And Then There Were Five
by Ivy of Arcana
Summary: The life of adult Ren and Nora. General Fluffiness, family life.


Nora had only seen Lie Ren visually anxious in a few situations in their time together. The first was after the Nuckelavee attack on Kuroyuri, when Ren's aura had depleted, and he could no longer rely on his calming semblance to prevent the inevitable panic lying wait in him and his new companion. Nora could remember an exhausted Ren falling into her trembling arms as they huddled together after the Grimm had left the small village in ashes. The second time was back at that same village, avenging the lives lost there. The third time... well, that had been a happy anxiety, hadn't it? The image was still clear in her mind: the ninja that prided himself on emotional regulation was sweating and fidgeting with the collar of his tux. Nora had opted to add a large pink bow to the traditional white attire for the event, and Ren's eyes had never been wider upon seeing her. Had he nearly fainted? Nora would never know, because Ren wouldn't tell her, and Jaune, who had been near the groom's side, had been sworn to secrecy.

And now, three years later...

* * *

"Triplets!?"

"Yes," the faunas nurse replied, glancing back at the ultrasound monitor. "Isn't that exciting?"

 _Oh my oum, Ren thought, I'm going to die. Three at once? They're going to kill me!_

Unlike her clearly shell-shocked husband, Nora was beaming. "Wow! That's nearly an entire hunter and huntress team! We're so good! Oh! Think of all the names we get to come up with! And we can make three cakes on their birthday, and always have triple the fun..." Nora continue to ramble on about the endless possibilities that were now in store.

During the ramble, the nurse happened to notice Ren's expression. "Don't worry, dear," she murmured, her long ears moving comfortingly, "Multiple births are actually surprisingly common. I'm sure you can handle it."

 _That's easy for you to say, Ren sulked. You're half rabbit._

Nora interrupted before Ren could actually answer. "Ohohohohoh. We should tell Jaune!"

 _Well, I guess maybe he'll be sympathetic..._

"What were you going to tell me?" Jaune's head popped through the doorway. He must have been trying to listen in the entire time. He had been so excited when Ren and Nora had asked him to come so he could be the first to hear the baby's gender- although this probably wasn't much of a surprise to him. Ever since the death of Pyrrha many years prior, the remnants of team JNPR had kept growing closer together. At this point, Jaune was so close to Ren and Nora that he had chosen to build a house and live only two miles away from them. When he wasn't taking missions as a hunter, he was finding time to socialize with his two closest friends.

Nora smiled widely at Jaune's timely entrance. "You aren't going to believe this! It's..."

"Triplets," Ren finished. He had finally managed to keep any apprehension out of his voice; all that came through now was his ordinary tiredness.

Jaune looked as shocked as Ren had, but in a different way. "AHHHHH! That is so cool! I get to be uncle to three! AHHHHH!"

Nora joined in by shaking with excitement, something that regularly happened. The poor faunus nurse gave up trying to subdue her, and let her off the ultrasound table. Nora was practically skipping around the room now - Ren wondered how she managed to do that with her large belly.

Jaune came over to where Ren was standing and grinned. "Three on the first time! Knocked it out of the ballpark, didn't you?"

While any other man would have appreciated the endorsement of his masculinity, Ren responded with a tired glare. "Jaune, I'm very happy, but this isn't going to be easy. I wasn't expecting this..."

"Shush. It'll be fine. You've got me, and Ruby, and all the others, and Yang said she'd love to help babysit..."

Ren took half a second to picture Yang babysitting, and very quickly decided that he should try to ward that situation off as long as humanly possible.

"Well, what if they're all like Nora?"

"You love Nora!"

"Yes, but I don't want three little copies of her! Do you know how difficult it is to just deal with her and all the new hormones?"

"Well, you've got a point," Jaune responded. Nora was always crazy, and now she was only more so. Too much energy had been used up trying to get her not to do anything reckless while pregnant. For example, Ren had only reminded Nora a thousand times that using her semblance wasn't a good idea now- just because she could channel electricity didn't mean her offspring could.

Nora had worked off enough of her energy to calm down. She came over to the two hunters, and side-hugged Ren. The side-hug was an unfortunate necessity due to actual hugs being no longer possible with her large belly. Ren sighed, relaxing slightly.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Nora's smile was now comforting instead of excited. As oblivious as Nora seemed to the common stranger, Ren knew she was the opposite of that. "We have each other. And Jaune," she added.

Jaune grinned. "So, what are the genders, by the way?"

Ren started. "You know, I don't think we've heard that yet..."

"Two boys and a girl." This came from the nurse, who had been watching the scene the entire time. She smiled warmly. "And all healthy."

"Thanks," Nora smiled again. She turned to the two hunters. "Probably time to get home, too. We have names to think up!"

"Ohhh, can I name one?" Jaune interjected.

Ren rolled his eyes. "Maybe. You've gotta promise to help me out when they're born, though."

"Absolutely. Also, Yang and Ruby are so excited for you, and Blake and..."

"I thought we asked you not to tell!"

"You asked me not to reveal whether they were a girl or boy, not how many of them there were."

"He's got a point." This was from Nora.

"So, they are all waiting back at your place, wanting to congratulate..."

"Am I ever going to get a moment of quiet now?"

"No," Nora responded, taking Ren's hand as they all walked out of the clinic. "But you've got friends, and a whole new adventure waiting to happen."

Ren smiled.

 _I suppose that isn't the worst thing._


End file.
